This invention relates to auger apparatus of the type that bores one or more deep holes by an auger formed of a string of connected auger sections, and more particularly to such auger apparatus that is more compact, requires less operating room and is more easily transported than prior auger apparatus.
The invention provides substantial advantages when employed in auger mining machines of the type adapted to be positioned adjacent an upwardly extending wall to recover coal from a seam exposed in such wall and which extends generally laterally into the earth. Auger mining machines of this type comprise one or more augers each embodying a cutting head of relatively large diameter connected to and rotationaly driven by a string of helically vaned auger suctions driven from the machine. The cutting head penetrates the coal seam and the separated coal is transported rearwardly from the cutting head along the vaned auger string to the entrance of the hole made by the cutting head where the coal is collected and removed. Typically, the coal is delivered from the vaned auger string to a cross conveyor mounted across the front of the auger apparatus which transports the coal laterally to another conveyor for removal to a truck or other conveyance. The cross conveyor usually carries an integral heavy mounting plate extending across its bottom. The conveyor is mounted on the auger apparatus by a series of spaced bolts or pins extending the length of the plate.
As the cutting head penetrates into the seam, it is necessary to introduce additional auger sections into the string until the desired length of the auger string is reached to achieve the desired depth of hole. In order to achieve desired high production, it is necessary to handle the auger sections rapidly and accurately in taking them from a store of sections and placing them in the auger string and in removing them from the auger string and replacing them in the store of sections. It is desired that the sections be rapidly lifted and put in place accurately in the auger string. Because of the size and weight of the auger sections, they must be handled by mechanical hoist means.
Auger apparatus that has proven to be very efficient and very effective in operation is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,918,536 assigned to the Assignee of the present invention. Recently, however, there has developed a need for auger apparatus to mine previously worked areas having limited amounts of coal remaining to be extracted and which offer substantially less room for operation. Such use requires apparatus that may be placed on a truck and moved readily over any number and type of roads in order to extract coal efficiently at a plurality of sites in a relatively short time. The height, as well as the size and weight, of the auger apparatus on the truck is an important factor in the ability to move the apparatus efficiently from site to site.